The early morning sun kissed the grunge-coated buildings of Paigetown, leaving only residual moisture of what had once been the nightly ice. If there were any grass around in the concrete jungle, it'd assuredly be dew-kissed and shining with the solar glare.
Eli's breath fumed out like a dragon's, and his fingers had turned red at the tips.
He had come early, mostly with blind hope that he would be able to slip into the school's workshop before opening, and get even a single joint under way.
Time wasn't waiting for him. It had been two days of his thirty, and he hadn't even outlined his plans.
Just as Eli reached the door to the shop, having hopped the shut school-gates, he frowned. Oddly, the light was still visible through the small, square plexiglass window in the door.
With nothing else to do, he tried the door.
It opened without resistance, and he quickly scurried in, bathing in the soothing warmth of the insulated room.
Faint snoring reverberated through the rugged chamber, snapping Eli's thin neck toward the sudden sound as it intruded on the comfortable, empty warmth of the shop.
There, at his desk, a certain old man lay hunched, completely out of it. His snorts and occasional shuffles left him reminiscent of a hippo lounging the plains.
He'd be lucky if the papers he slept atop survived without a shower of drool.
"Hey! Wake up!" Eli threw his bag to a corner of the room, and wandered over.
He tore the sheets from beneath the unconscious man.
"Hu-! Oof-..." The old man shot up with a wince, stretching out those old bones, "Eli… ah, yes… right. I got inspired, you see-..." He sniffed, rubbing his droopy eyes.
"I can see that much." Eli nodded, his eyes raking the detailed diagrams.
They were excellent. At least, in comparison to what he had seen - mostly his own, or those from basic school projects.
It seemed Vaughn had taken the rough ideas Eli had, and ran with them. In fact, it looked as though he had snatched them, tied them up, and shipped them off to Germany.
A series of seven sheets each explicitly denominated plans for construction. Those being the four limbs, torso, and head. Each of the less specific pieces were designated to the seventh page.
There were also entire material lists, coupled with whether they were available in the storage, had to be bought, or would be created bespoke by them. This, alongside a whole timeline…
"You- uh, really outdid yourself here. I have to say." Eli threw the papers back onto the table, "I have to wonder how your family is okay with this."
He turned to the ever jovial teacher, expecting a sly remark or stupid, witty reply. Instead, he was greeted with a face full of dread.
"Oh my goodness, my wife!" The man practically launched from his chair, ripping the phone from the desk along with him.
But ten seconds later, Eli was left stranded alone in the workshop, keys in hand and half-baked departing words still ringing in his ears.
The door still swung from the speed it was charged through.
The large man once again proved his excessive speed for his weight and size. Were he skinnier and younger, Eli thought he might be mistaken as Overclocked.
Shaking his head, Eli turned to the stack of papers across the desk, and then to the gorgeous visage of the workshop. He cracked his knuckles, and grabbed the planning sheet.
The look on his face could've been mistaken for lust.
Perhaps it was.
###
"Gah-! What was that insane fool thinking! W-what are these tolerances!? A moon buggy isn't this precise!"
This whine came from Eli, two hours and four complete restarts into the project. The outlook wasn't good.
The papers he was working with specified machine-level precision. Achieving anything close with the useless scrap in the school toolboxes was nigh-impossible. Factoring in his less than expert technique, it must've been impossible.
"Was Dogbot really just luck!? Damn!"
The first failure had been simple, and Eli hadn't let it drag him down. A simple misread word left him filling in something he was certainly supposed to be filing down.
The second occurred when nine o'clock came and went, and eventually a class of bored students walked into the shop, sick of waiting for the absent Mr Vaughn. Eli managed to clear them off easily.
The teens didn't take much convincing to wander off and do whatever they wanted instead of going to a class.
The third and fourth were truly where these plans began to grate on Eli. Specifically, the fourth which stated in no uncertain terms that his measurements had to be exact, or they weren't going to be used at all.
This left him feeling less than pleased with the runaway professor.
He grit his teeth, grabbed another piece of forsaken metal from the shelf with a grip so firm it threatened to break.
He sat down, and he tried again.
Then again.
Again.
Soon enough, Eli lurched from his stupor, the skyline had turned dim, the sun that he swore had hung bright in the sky mere moments ago nowhere to be found.
In the doorway, he saw the cause of his snap to reality. One stout professor, staring right back at him, wide-eyed.
"You're still here? Jesus! What's happening, why the pile of junk?" The old man stepped forth, letting the old door swing loosely closed.
"I don't think I can do it, Sir…" Eli muttered, "I think they're just gonna kill me. I can't do it. I must have tried a hundred times."
The look on the professor's face sank. He chewed his lip, and clasped Eli's frail shoulder.
"Did I ever tell you how I got to work in this classroom? I failed, kid. I tried to make something out of myself, and it broke on my big day." The old man stared out the window. Dim clouds floated past, uncaring of the human struggles hundreds of metres below them.
"But that's not why I failed. I failed because I ran away. I turned around, and left my project to sizzle and die. I didn't apply to a contest the next year. I didn't go back to school." He laughed, squeezing Eli just a tad harder, "I didn't do much of a damn thing."
He glanced at the pile of scraps, and the fine dusting coating Eli's hands and face. He smiled, his face soon full of mirth.
"Remember when I said I started learning a thing or two from you? That thing was the determination you had, son. So do me a favour and sit down."
Vaughn pat Eli's back firmly enough to knock some wind from his lungs, but he sat back at the workbench anyway.
Their eyes met.
"Lets build a fuckin' robot."
Eli sniffled, rubbing his eyes. A smile invaded the gloom on his face.
"Yeah, okay… let's build a robot."